Critical Mass
by Angel-son of Caesar
Summary: Contains the secrets to building and taking down walls. Specifically, the walls of Lily Evans. JamesLily, rated T because all my stories are rated T. I don't like change ;D
1. Creation

**Critical Mass**

Please read "In Which Sirius Black Writes A Story." It will make my day.

Also, please leave a review for the aforementioned story. It will make my Honors homework easier. Seriously.

**Disclaimer:** **I own nothing.**

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_Part One: Genesis_

I. Walls

Walls.

Generally created to keep things out, they have been used for thousands of years.

The Great Wall of China is an excellent example of a wall. It is a man-made structure designed to keep enemies out of China.

However, walls can keep everything out, and, sometimes, that's not what's important.

Sometimes, it is only necessary to keep certain things out, and it is actually a hassle when the walls keep out certain _other_ things that, in fact, are wanted _in_.

Hence, the gate.

The gate is a marvelous device that can open to allow some things in.

Sometimes, the gate must be manually opened and closed.

For example, we have the Gates of Heaven.

Saint Peter stands up there, ready to open those gates for the good souls.

But why do we need to keep things out?

Well, there are certain unwanted items in the world.

The root of it all probably lies within the fact that _humans don't like change_.

Don't ask why. Who knows?

The fact of the matter is that humans are afraid of change. Routine is always nice, especially in the craziest lives.

Why are enemies being kept out of China?

Not only because they are annoying and bothersome and _just might kill you_, but because if they were around, _things would change_.

And China couldn't have that, now, could they?

So that settles that question: change is unwanted.

Now, there are, of course, some walls that are designed to keep things _in_, not _out_.

For instance, a blockade keeps prisoners inside, so they won't escape and _change_ things.

Castles might protect jewels or even important people, stop them from leaving or being taken away, because that would also _change_ things.

And then there are those peculiar walls which somehow multitask and do both.

II. Lily Evans

An excellent example.

Lily Evans was a bright girl.

Now, bright could mean two things. In Lily's case, it means both.

She was rather cheery, most of the time, and she was also intelligent.

So, she was bright.

The key to this brightness?

Lily Evans learns quickly.

She learned quickly in school.

She learned quickly how to control her temper.

She learned quickly how to appear cheery and normal.

She learned quickly how to defend herself.

Because Lily Evans, like other human beings, _doesn't like change_.

So Lily Evans learned how to build walls.

III. Petunia

Petunia Evans was Lily's sister.

Petunia Evans was Lily's best friend.

Petunia Evans was Lily's idol.

Petunia Evans was Lily's _life_.

She _was_.

Lily was young and naive when she discovered that she was a witch.

Lily had little experience at the time.

Lily didn't know how to build walls.

Lily couldn't stop Petunia from leaving, couldn't stop magic from coming in.

Lily Evans couldn't stop the _change_.

IV. Blockade

Lily lost her sister.

She had no walls.

Her life had changed.

Petunia had left, easily, because Lily didn't have walls to hinder her progress.

The prisoner escaped.

That change hurt Lily too much.

That could _never_ happen again.

Everything inside of Lily had to _stay_ inside of Lily.

Lily's walls began construction.

V. Outcast

A magical girl in a non-magical home.

It didn't matter whether her parents were proud of it or not.

It didn't matter that she was special in a _good_ way.

It didn't matter that she could do things others couldn't.

That didn't matter.

At the end of the day, she was still different.

She was still unusual.

She was still an outcast.

Outcast

A magical girl from a non-magical home.

It didn't matter whether she was good at it or not.

It didn't matter that she was smart and funny and great.

It didn't matter that she could do things others couldn't.

That didn't matter.

At the end of the day, she was still different.

She was still unusual.

She was still and outcast.

An outcast in two worlds.

She had no place to call home.

She only had herself.

Being attacked from both sides was too much.

She had to protect her home.

She had to protect herself.

She had to keep herself in, she had to keep the others out.

There was to be _no more change_.

She finished her walls.


	2. Unsuccessful Attempt

**Critical Mass**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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_Part Two: Theory_

I. James Potter

There once was a boy who was named James Potter.

He took a particular interest in Lily.

In fact, he fancied her.

But Lily didn't like him at all.

Why?

It may have been because he was rather bothersome to her, with his non-stop invitations on dates.

It may have been because he was rather arrogant, to her, without a good reason.

Or, maybe, possibly, it was because he tried to bring _change_.

II. Difference

James Potter was unlike anyone she'd ever met.

He was so carefree, for one thing.

And he was rich.

He was very good at Quidditch.

And Lily even thought he was rather good-looking.

He was smart, and also funny.

But he was incredibly arrogant.

He was different.

However, all this would have been inconsequential, if not for one more fact.

He tried to bring _change_ to her.

And this made all the difference.

III. It Begins

To be honest, he intimidated her.

Someone so popular and, frankly, well-rounded, trying to take down her walls.

He cared enough to try and see her for who she really was.

Of course, neither of them realized this at the beginning.

To James, she was a beautiful, wonderful girl whom he fancied.

To Lily, he was just an annoying and intimidating guy whom she loathed.

Neither one realized how important he actually was to her (though James had a pretty good idea).

It didn't matter to them.

Not yet.

But he was trying.

And, really, that was all that mattered.

IV. Fight or Flight

He scared her.

She was afraid to let him in.

She couldn't suffer another loss.

That was why she had those walls.

But he was still trying to get in.

And that scared her.

But there was no place left to run.

So she fought.

She fought hard, and she fought valiantly.

And, for a long time, she held him off.

But he kept trying.

And he came up with a plan.

V. Analysis

He assessed the situation.

He realized that Lily had walls to keep him from getting in.

He realized that he would have to take down Lily's walls.

He talked to Remus Lupin, who was a very smart boy.

Remus Lupin showed him a way to take down walls.

Repetitive assault.

In theory, if one is to constantly apply a certain pressure to the walls for a long enough time, then a hole should be created or, possibly, the walls will just come down.

VI. Action

So James tried this.

It didn't work out so well.

He was very blatant about his pressure, asking Lily out every hour on the hour, every day.

In fact, he was so blatant that Lily was quick to notice and realize what was going on.

And Lily built up her walls stronger, in order to resist this attack.

As a result, the rate at which Lily fortified herself grew to become much greater than the rate at which James took down her walls.

Also, Lily was able to adapt and evolve and make herself immune to James' attacks.

So, really, James was just making things worse.

There was a bright side, though.

Well, not so much a bright side as a light at the end of the tunnel, or a silver lining on a cloud.

There was another way to take down walls.

And James Potter was about to figure it out.


	3. The End

**Critical Mass**

Please leave a review.

Also, please read my other stories.

Finally, please leave reviews on my other stories.

Thank you so much.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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_Part Three: Critical Mass_

I. Discovery

In sixth year, James Potter found the answer.

He was ready to orchestrate the comeuppance of Lily Evans and her walls.

However, he did not have a good enough opportunity.

He needed to get closer to Lily.

He figured out how to do this.

So, for the rest of the year, he made himself a better person.

He knew Lily Evans was going to be Head Girl.

So he needed to be Head Boy.

That part of the plan worked.

II. Operation Take-Down-Lily-Evans'-Walls Begins

In seventh year, he set his plan into action.

In theory, he reasoned that if he constantly applied a force small enough to not be noticed or bothersome, but at the same time not negligible, he would be able to take down those walls after a certain amount of time.

The key was to find the perfect force.

Eventually, he found it.

Slowly, _ever so slowly_, he wheedled and wedged his way into her walls.

She began to accept him, and later to trust him, and eventually to even like him.

These things she all acknowledged.

But there was one important thing she did _not_ acknowledge.

She was falling in love.

III. Denial

It could not be possible.

How could she be in love with James Potter?

James Potter?

Her brain rejected the idea.

Sure, she liked him, but she could not love him.

It was simply impossible.

She had despised him for so long.

Except, really, she hadn't. He'd just kinda scared her.

But, still, it was inconceivable.

Because if she was falling in love, then her walls had to come down to accept him.

And if she let him in, he could always leave her.

And she couldn't stand another loss.

Not like Petunia.

It would _not_ happen again.

She absolutely had to stop it.

Because, besides the fact that he might hurt her so very much (no matter how much everyone else tried to convince her that he never would), there was something else.

He would bring _change_.

Now, that..._that_ could not happen.

So she continued to reject him.

Her walls, somehow, miraculously, stayed up.

But James was not discouraged.

There _had_ to be another way.

And there was.

IV. Third Theory

Now, James' plan had been working fantastically up to this point.

The only problem now was that the force he applied was much too small and weak to bring down the walls all the way.

He had to, somehow, gather enough force to administer the final, devastating blow.

Now, in physics, there is a formula that states F=ma.

This stands for Force=mass x acceleration.

If one was to analyze this formula the way James Potter did, one would realize that force is made up of two components.

There was acceleration.

And there was mass.

Now, acceleration is the rate of change of speed.

Or, basically, speed divided by time.

But that's beside the point.

Acceleration didn't matter to James.

_Mass_ was the key.

He needed more _mass_ to produce a greater force, a force great enough to take down even the mighty walls of Lily Evans.

He needed critical mass.

V. Explanation

Critical mass, in the case of assault and walls, simply means the mass needed to take down the walls.

If one attacks with too little a mass, for instance, one man, then the man will get killed and will do little to no damage to the wall.

It would be much easier to bring in a catapult, or a tank, or something more powerful, even if it was just more men.

If that could be achieved, the walls would undoubtedly fall.

And _that_ is why James needed critical mass.

He needed enough mass to persuade Lily to let him in.

And he found it.

VI. Shock and Awe

Remus went first.

Using his superior logic skills and being completely methodical, thereby appealing to Lily's intelligent side, he was able to convince Lily slightly and make her confused about her feelings for James and the right thing to do, ultimately distracting her from her walls.

Leaving Lily immediately after seeing that his point had been made, Remus baffled the girl even more.

Puzzled by Remus' curt departure and even more so by what he had said, Lily would have been forced to think long and hard about her life.

But it was not to be so.

Peter approached Lily timidly and, with over-exaggerated pitifulness, acted incredibly pathetic as he reinforced Remus' argument.

This appeal to Lily's feelings of pity and guilt perplexed her to the extreme, and she was left helpless and confused as Peter shuffled away.

At this point, Lily was seriously doubting her own judgment, desperately attempting to consider all of Remus' points, trying to ignore Peter's appeal to her feelings, attempting to think objectively, and also trying to organize everything going on in her head so she could find the solution logically.

But, just then, the climax was reached, as the most important thing in the whole Wizarding world happened.

Sirius Black walked in.

VII. Final Blow

And then, it was all over.

It was all okay.

In the midst of the tangled web that was all of her doubt and confusion and feelings, there had been an answer all along.

A very simple answer, actually.

And Sirius Black, the Savior, strode into the library, looked at Lily Evans, and _gave her the solution_.

He came. He saw. He conquered.

While she was confused and filled with turmoil, he rapidly took control with a simple solution, and his control and his answer were quickly and easily accepted.

Lily Evans was so perplexed and distracted that she let Sirius Black and his solution inside of her walls, something she had vowed she'd never do.

And the pure irony of it all was that his solution was to let others in.

VIII. Ever After

And the walls came tumbling, crashing, falling down.

Using critical mass, James had weakened her.

At the critical moment, Sirius had opened her.

And, now, she saw sense.

She didn't need those walls.

She had the Marauders.

And they could sustain her.

For ever after.

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And, of course, they were much lower maintenance and much more fun.

Well, this is the end, folks.

Hope you enjoyed this story, please review, and PLEASE READ AND REVIEW MY OTHER STORIES.

Thank you.


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